Objectives
: To analyze the accuracy of the 2 minute step test in the diagnosis of the normal functional capacity (FC) of hypertensive elderly individuals or hypertensive elderly individuals with other associated chronic conditions (ACC).
Methods
: An observational diagnosis type study of 101 subjects, 41 of whom were hypertensive and 60 of whom were normotensive, was carried out. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (ROC) were constructed based on the normal FC variable.
Results
: For hypertensive patients, the 2MST, with an under the ROC curve area of 0.7 (95% CI: 0.50 to 0.87, p = 0.04), proved to be accurate at diagnosing FC. Among hypertensive individuals with an elevation of 69, sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 54% were observed. The 2MST was accurate at predicting normal FC among hypertensive patients with ACC, with an under the ROC curve area of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.69 to 1.00, p= 0.02). With an elevation of 65 the sensitivity was 83% and the specificity was 67%.
Conclusions
: The 2MST revealed good sensitivity and specificity when assessing the FC of elderly hypertensive individuals and elderly hypertensive patients with ACC, which was not the case among normotensive elderly persons.
Validation Studies; Elderly; Hipertension
